Harlem Valley firemen travel to Long Island to help storm victims

AMENIA — Though the devastating blow struck by Superstorm Sandy to areas of New York City, Long Island, Staten Island, New Jersey and Connecticut may seem miles away to some, a number of firefighters from Amenia and Wassaic came face-to-face with the tragedy after being dispatched there by New York state’s Office of Fire Prevention (OFP). The OFP canvassed the area after the storm hit on Monday, Oct. 29, to see which fire departments had what equipment and manpower and then made the necessary deployments, mostly for 72-hour shifts. Those who made the journey said they were only partially prepared for the scene they met upon arrival.“Nothing in reality could prepare you for what you saw,” said Wassaic Fire Company Assistant Chief Kenny Elliott. “In my opinion the TV does it no justice, that’s the only way I could think to put it.”Elliot was sent to Long Beach, Long Island, along with past Wassaic Chief Robert Boyles Jr. The pair went with their department’s 3,000-gallon tanker.“The biggest challenge is getting the equipment around,” Elliott said while still on location. “The streets are littered with debris from people’s homes, and just a few days before we got here the roads were cleared of huge sand drifts.”Elliot said it’s been tough to see so much devastation, and even harder to have so few answers.“These people down here have no power anywhere and there’s no idea as to when it could possibly be turned on,” he said. “We’ve heard up to two weeks or possibly the end of November, near Thanksgiving. I’m sure some of the homes won’t be turned on for months just because of the actual damage done.”Amenia Fire Company First Lt. and EMT Virgel Shook was also deployed to Long Island, to the town of Massapequa. He went down Tuesday, Oct. 30, and stayed until Friday, Nov. 2, with Amenia Fire Chief Chris Howard and Capt. Aaron Howard Jr. The three brought an engine and heavy rescue equipment and worked around-the-clock along Merrick Road (likened to Route 9 in Dutchess County).“The Massapequa Fire Company was inundated with calls — they were exhausted, so we took over and responded to their calls in place of their department,” Shook said. “It started with car fires, house fires, a lot of CO2 calls with people running generators ... I also helped with the ambulance since I’m an EMT. We were nonstop; we took over 50 calls during our time down there.... We had more calls there than we do in four or five months in Amenia.”Shook said there were unexpected dangers one would not encounter back home.“It’s interesting what saltwater does to cars; people need to unhook their batteries because there’s a risk of their cars catching fire instantaneously,” he said. “So all were being informed to remove their batteries or unhook their cables so there was no power to them. It’s not something we would think about here but down there it was a huge concern.”Likewise, Elliot said homes dependent on natural gas also have to worry.“We were chasing a lot of gas leaks,” he said. “And when they start turning things back on down there they’re really going to start to have a lot of problems.”Amenia Fire Company Capt. Aaron Howard Jr. was with Shook in Massapequa. He, too, said Sandy took its toll on the region.“The coastal areas were definitely the hardest hit, but the wind damage overall was widespread,” he said, adding that the coordination efforts among the different agencies was well done. “I give a lot of credit to the counties of Dutchess and Nassau and to the state of New York. My fear was I would go there and sit idle, but they got us there and put us right to work to give those guys there a chance to go home and take care of their families, so it was a good feeling to be there and help those guys out.”Howard described what he saw once on the scene.“In the worst places it was like a wave just tore through your home and whole houses were sitting outside, ruined from the saltwater, and there was nothing anybody could do about it,” he said. “It was definitely a tough thing to see and I feel badly for the people and the kids especially.”When asked, Howard said he’s never seen anything like the destruction left in the wake of the storm while serving as a firefighter. But he did liken it to another experience.“To be honest, in our own country, no, I’ve never seen the same devastation,” he said. “But in Afghanistan and Iraq, with people losing entire homes or coming back to nothing, yes. It’s kind of a leveler of people. I guess that’s what makes this country great is no matter who you are there are always people to help.”For those who would like to support the continuing relief efforts for Superstorm Sandy victims, Renee Pelkey and Stacie Latrell have organized a collection in conjunction with the Amenia Fire Company. For a list of items to donate go to their Facebook event page at Hurricane Sandy Relief Help. Donations may then be dropped off at the Amenia firehouse on Mechanic Street Monday, Nov. 12, through Friday, Nov. 16, from 4 to 7 p.m. There will also be a drop-off site in front of the Freshtown supermarket on Route 22 during the same week at the same times.“With the rough economy and it being so devastating to see what’s down there, I thought it would be great to do this and donate,” said Pelkey. The collection will be accepting gently-worn clothing; toiletries; towels; hand sanitizer; nonperishable items; pet items; bleach and cleaning supplies; garbage bags; blankets; gloves, scarfs, hats and coats; sternos; bottled water; flashlights and batteries; and other items that can be found on the Facebook page. Do not include cash, though gift cards will be accepted. Pelkey recommended donating gift cards to home-improvement stores like Home Depot and Lowes.For more information on the Amenia Fire Company’s collection efforts call Pelkey at 845-206-1670 or Latrell at 845-421-4953.The Wassaic Fire Company is also conducting a clothing and food drive, from now until further notice, according to the company’s president, John Kelleher. Those who would like to contribute may drop off nonperishable food items, clothes of any size, blankets, toiletries and other items at the Wassaic firehouse at 27 Firehouse Road in the hamlet of Wassaic, at anytime. “The double doors are always open,” said Kelleher, who said he could barely imagine what the storm victims are going through. “To have everything you own taken away and then what you have left be afraid to leave it because it might be stolen — it’s just awful.” For more information on the Wassaic collection, call Kelleher at 845-418-9278.